As described in Thoughts from The Frontier: Jacob Lestschinsky, Demographer and Scholar, this essay – “In Fascist Rumania”, from September of 1938 – is the fourth of Lestschinsky’s six writings published in the Jewish Frontier from the late 1930s through 1948.
The previous essays are:
The Jews of Central Europe – June, 1938
The Fate of Six Million – July, 1938
Jews in Baltic Lands – August, 1938
The subsequent two essays are:
Terror in Polish Universities – April, 1939
Jewish Expressions in the U.S.S.R. – December, 1948
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In suggesting that anti-Jewish animosity was increasing in Rumania due to positive economic changes, Jacob Lestschinsky’s essay anticipates ideas expressed in Mihail Sebastian’s (Mendel Hechter’s) 1934 novel For Two Thousand Years, as described by Dr. Ruth Wisse in her 2017 Mosaic book review and essay of A Romanian Jew’s Private Judgment of a World Bent on Condemning Him, which she states, “…brilliantly chart[s] the psychological effects of anti-Semitism on both its perpetrators and its victims, a newly translated 1934 novel outdoes even such master analysts as Freud and Proust.”
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The situation in Rumania during recent years
proves that anti-Semitism may develop not only as a result of economic crises
but also as a byproduct of positive economic changes.
* * * * * * *
The Jewish citizen of a fascist country is thus dependent on the good graces of the rulers
and if he would gain their favor
he must discharge his Jewish help and replace it with Rumanian.
* * * * * * *
Some time ago I had an opportunity to speak with a group of young Rumanian Jews.
To my query regarding their condition
they replied with a sigh and a pessimistic shake of the hand.
The meaning of the sigh was:
Where could we escape to?
Where can one get work?
This is the unspoken question which torments 200,000 young Jews in Rumania.
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In Fascist Rumania
September, 1938
RUMANIA IS a broad land inhabited by 18 million people. Its provinces differ widely in their economic, political and cultural past. Bessarabia, which was acquired from Russia, differs from the lands that were obtained from Austria and Hungary; the original territories of Rumania are a separate subject for study. The various provinces that comprise the Rumanian state have not yet fused into a unit. National minorities constitute 35% of the population in the country and in the cities they reach a high of 45%. The Rumanian population is the most backward relative to its development and is noted for its conservatism.
The one million Jews that live in Rumania constitute 6% of the total population but in the cities their percentage is much greater. Before the war they were 65% of the population of Kishinev; the non-Jewish minority was comprised of Russians, Ukrainian and Moldavians. At the time we hoped that under a democratic regime the Jews would assume the leadership in the government of cities like Kishinev. As late as 1925 they still comprised 60% of the population; today only 50%. The same holds true for Jassy. In 1925 Jews accounted for 60% of the population and today only for 48%. In Czernowitz they were 47% in 1925 and 38% today. The process of relative diminution in the cities if characteristic of all the countries of eastern Europe including the Soviet Union. The cause underlying this process is also the same in all these countries – the urbanization of the majority nationalities and their adoption of western European culture. The tragedy of eastern European Jewry consists in this transition in urban trades because it involves the displacement of the minority which developed these countries and fostered their trade and industry.
But it is not an easy task to displace the Jews from trade in a city like Kishinev where 80% of the commerce is handled by them. The same holds true for Jassy, Czernowitz and scores of other cities and towns. It is a difficult task to displace the Jews from the textile industry two-thirds of which is in their hands. This industry is relatively new in Rumania and the non-Jews, particularly the Rumanians, are not yet acquainted with its operation. In a land of forests, such as Rumania is, where the export of lumber occupies an important part in the economy of the country it is dangerous to replace the Jewish lumber merchants by others before the latter have mastered the trade and have made contacts with forest workers. A similar situation prevails in many other Rumanian industries. The main cause for the downfall of the Goga government was that it attempted to introduce in a backward country – where most of the inhabitants cannot read nor write, have no capital and lack connections with foreign markets – a type of fascism which can only exist in countries with a well developed industry and commerce and with a high cultural level. But we should not deceive ourselves into believing that since 100% fascism faded in Rumania, partial fascism is also bound to fail. The masses of Rumanians have turned to the cities and are eager to engage in all urban callings. This movement towards urbanization largely explains the growth of social anti-Semitism which is always more dangerous than governmental anti-Semitic measures.
The situation in Rumania during recent years proves that anti-Semitism may develop not only as a result of economic crises but also as a byproduct of positive economic changes. During recent years Rumania has enjoyed a measure of prosperity unusual in these days. Its wheat crops have increased by 30% since 1930. Prices of wheat have also been higher during the past four years than they have been previously. The export of wheat accounts for one-third of the total Rumanian exports and in 1937 it amounted to 30 billion Lei.
The textile industry which was largely developed by Jews from Poland has made such rapid strides forward that it can supply almost the entire demand of the domestic market in Rumania. In 1927 there were only 5,300 looms but by 1938 the number has increased to 20,0000 looms. Textile imports have dropped to one-tenth. Textile production rose from 6 billion lei in 1932 to 10 billion in 1937. It is also noteworthy that in most of the textile plants a great number of Jews were employed and the office staffs were entirely Jewish.
But despite the development of industry which absorbed scores of thousands of workers, despite the phenomenal growth of trade and of the government apparatus which employs Rumanians only, social anti-Semitism and the process of displacement of Jews has been increasing steadily. How is this to be explained? It is very simple. The initiative of the Jews in developing trade and industry has not impoverished the villagers. On the contrary, it has increased their economic welfare and it has aroused in them a striving for a still higher standard of living. Thus we find that in prewar Czernowitz there were 173 doctors, 114 of whom were Jews, and 194 Jewish lawyers out of 228. Today the situation is different. The positions of the Jewish doctors and lawyers are now occupied by Rumanians and Ukrainian who had left the villages. Before the war the Jews accounted for 30% of the lower officials and 15% of the higher ones. Today there are no Jewish government officials. The younger Rumanians, the sons of the officials that displaced the Jews, are turning to trade and industry. Since the economic development of the country does not keep pace with the increase in population, the competition for employment and sources of income becomes increasingly keener. During the past twenty years the population of Rumania has increased by four million. With no outlet in the way of mass employment, the villagers are streaming into the cities. There they find the Jews employed in officers and shops and as owners of stores. The Rumanians announce frankly that they intend to seize these sources of employment and income, and in our times might makes right. This is the true meaning of the regulation which requires all employers to employ at least 80% “pure” Rumanians in their plants. If the Rumanians have not yet developed sufficiently – like the Germans – to be able to displace the Jews from trade and industry, they can at least seize the jobs of the Jewish workers and officials. Meanwhile they are satisfied with 80% – until they will acquire the necessary training to displace all the Jews. The method of percentages which has been introduced in Hungary and Rumania clearly illustrates the nature of fascism; it does not affect the rich Jewish merchant and industrialist as long as these are needed to operate their enterprises. It Is true that the Goga government, which followed a 100% anti-Semitic policy, cause complete anarchy in Rumanian economic and financial life and it was soon defeated. But the followers of Goga are more cautious and therefore more dangerous. Their strangulation of Jewish economic life is more gradual but it is sure to bring ruin. It is true that the plan of Goga to deprive half a million Jews of their citizenship has been discarded but several tens of thousands will be deprived of their rights. The revision of citizenship still proceeds and 50-60 thousand Jews are in danger of expulsion from the country for the sole sin of being born Jews.
New labor laws are also gradually but energetically being enforced. As a result of these laws unemployment among Jews has greatly increased. To our great shame we must admit that there are Jews who hasten to displace their Jewish employees by Rumanians in order to win the favor of the authorities and to save their enterprises and their profits. The authorities have the right to issue licenses to engage in export and import trade, to start new enterprises or to liquidate existing ones. The Jewish citizen of a fascist country is thus dependent on the good graces of the rulers and if he would gain their favor he must discharge his Jewish help and replace it with Rumanian. Small scale fascism such as exists in Hungary and Rumania is thus directed primarily against the Jewish proletariat and the impoverished middle class.
The “numerus clausus” has long been in effect in the Rumanian universities. During recent months the lawyers’ federations have been busy expelling their Jewish members. When we remember with what enthusiasm Jewish lawyers were expelled from the courts after the first decrees of the Goga government, we may feel certain that this latest aim will be “successfully” attained. Jewish doctors are not allowed in state and municipal institutions and are on the verge of starvation. Only a few specialists still retain their positions.
Forty to forty-five per cent of the Jews in Bessarabia have been forced to depend on relief as a result of these measures. The mortality rate among the Jews has risen appallingly while the birth rate has dropped. Thirty-five per cent of the Jews in Bukowina are dependent on relief. The poverty of the others is great and it affects segments of the population that hitherto supported Jewish charitable institutions.
Some time ago I had an opportunity to speak with a group of young Rumanian Jews. To my query regarding their condition they replied with a sigh and a pessimistic shake of the hand. The meaning of the sigh was: Where could we escape to? Where can one get work? This is the unspoken question which torments 200,000 young Jews in Rumania.
This is the fourth and last of a series of article on the situation of the Jews in the eastern and central European countries.